Once you’ve explored homeschooling styles a bit, you’ll probably set off looking for curriculum. Here are some places where you can score curriculum and materials for free!
Many of these are digital resources and require no extra resources or use books you can check out from the library. Just remember that you’ll still need to pay for any printing. Here is one of our favorite places to print!
Connections Academy, Epic, K12….all of these virtual public school programs are often confused with ‘homeschooling.’ Today we’re going to answer some of the most common questions that we hear. Each student has different needs, and these options might be the right fit for you family, but they’re not actually homeschooling…
If we’re ‘at home,’ isn’t it homeschool?
Homeschools are parent-directed and privately-funded.
Homeschool families are responsible for providing the curriculum and instruction. There are no funds set aside for homeschoolers, and they are usually restricted from participating in public school activities. Curriculum and activities are paid for by the family. At the Book Shack, we strive to help families ease that burden through our resource room.
Parents have the freedom to choose curriculum and resources that match their worldview. They decide how to plan education and track records. (Some states also require parents to keep records, complete testing and / or portfolio review, and take standardized tests. Oklahoma currently does not.)
On the flipside, there are also no government regulations (in the state of Oklahoma).
Virtual schools are government-directed and publicly-funded.
Virtual school programs provide the curriculum, instruction, and access to extracurriculars at no expense to the family. Teachers are usually state-certified, and parents do not play an instructional role. This is “public school done at home.”
Students must comply with state standards for testing, as well as all other laws applicable to school-age students (eg, vaccinations).
The virtual schooling program must be completed at / by a certain time and in a particular order. There is no time for student-directed ‘bunny trails.’ A minimum amount of ‘seat time’ must also be spent for each class.
Virtual public schools are free, as in they are paid for by tax dollars. Like brick and mortar public schools, however, there are still extra fees that come up. The price of a ‘free education,’ however, is the freedom to choose how to educate your student.
If I use virtual schooling, and want to call myself a homeschooler, why do you care?
Because the rights and freedoms of homeschools are different from ‘traditional’ schools, it is important to maintain a distinction. Each state has their own legal requirements.
The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) maintains a position that to confuse the two groups will eventually erode protections that homeschool families currently have, and fought hard to receive. These rights, such as freedom to choose our own curriculum, were hard-won by previous generations of homeschool families, and we would be remiss to let them slip away.
How does the Book Shack & Homeschool House feel about virtual public schooling?
The Book Shack does not offer resources to families who are using virtual public schooling, as their materials are already covered by the state.
The Homeschool House does offer its space and classes to virtual public school families. This is a community effort to bring together all children who are schooling at home.
For some parents, having a special needs child is the impetus to homeschool. For others, it’s a nerve-wracking concern. Wherever you fall on the spectrum, homeschooling a special needs child is an adventure!
With the advent of No Child Left Behind, special needs children both gained and lost in the classroom. There is more advocacy and information, and accommodations are understood and generally more accepted, but there is still much temptation to box students in. Many families are choosing to homeschool because their special needs children’s needs are not being met in the traditional classroom.
It can be very overwhelming to homeschool a special needs child, especially at first. You not only have to plan the academics, but also the therapy and interventions that are required for your child. In some states, the school system will still help with these needs, but Oklahoma is not one of those states. We parents are required to find therapists and cover that cost on our own. It is one of the prices we pay for a lack of legislation and state-mandated testing for homeschoolers.
Getting a Diagnosis & IEP (Individualized Education Plan)
If your child has been in the school system, then he probably has an IEP. Know that it will expire and you cannot get a new one once he’s been pulled to homeschool. Don’t fret over it; just know it. Keep a copy of the IEP paperwork to take to therapists and doctors when seeking assistance. Your therapist will probably do a therapy-specific evaluation, so be sure to keep that paperwork, too. Start a file…
If you are starting from a homeschool environment, your first stop will be the family doctor, who will refer you to one or more therapists. They will do initial evaluations, which you will want to keep on file.
All of this paperwork is your ‘leg to stand on’ should there be any questions about your child’s performance in the future (not likely, but possible). They are helpful in building your case once you reach the upper grades — as your child may need testing accommodations. You are eligible to file for accommodations on tests such as ACT and SAT.
You are the Expert
No one understands your child like you do. You know his likes, dislikes, what bothers him, and what works best. Working with therapists, you can use his strengths and weaknesses to tailor a program specifically toward his needs.
For example, our son loves airplanes and aviation, so we have used many aviation-oriented games for therapy. Because he’s interested in the topic, he puts forth more effort into mastering those difficult tasks.
As parents, you have already spent years teaching your child and learning in which ways he learns best. Equipped with this knowledge, you are prepared to become an individual classroom teacher as well! Knowing your child’s strengths and weaknesses will help you to tailor the lesson plan to his needs.
For example, if he has dysgraphia, allow him to orally discuss topics, or teach keyboarding at a younger age. If he has trouble with multiple instructions, provide short, individual directions.
Moving at a New Pace
If your child grasps a concept immediately, feel free to move forward. By the same token, if he’s having trouble understanding something, take as much time as you need. For subjects like math and language arts, a failure to build a strong foundation leads to crumbling academics later on. In a traditional school setting, there is only so much time for each concept, but in the homeschool, you have the freedom and flexibility to take as much time as necessary!
Don’t look at it as your child being six months behind in math. Look at the fact that you are putting in the time to cement a solid foundation. Some children are ‘jumpers,’ meaning they don’t show any academic growth at all for a long time, but then ‘jump’ two or three grade levels over a short period of time. Given a strong foundation, things will eventually click into place! Without that foundation, however, you’re merely building an academic house of cards. Move at your child’s pace…
You are Not Alone
Support for special needs homeschool families comes in many places! Here at Homeschool House, every single one of our leaders has at least one, if not more, special needs children. Feel free to ask us questions, and we’ll do our best to point you in a helpful direction.
There are special needs-specific homeschool conventions, Facebook groups, and even local playgroups (look toward your cities, Tulsa and OKC) for these families.
Most curricula offer ways to tailor toward special needs learners. You may have to call the curriculum publisher directly, but they’re usually amenable to discussing how it can be adapted. The Book Shack can also help you with locating curriculum to fit your child’s learning style.
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability – to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It’s like this……
When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip – to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland.”
“Holland?!?” you say. “What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.”
But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It’s just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It’s just a different place. It’s slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around…. and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills….and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy… and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.”
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away… because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.
But… if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things … about Holland.
As the school year comes to an end, I see so many changes. Teaching two instead of one been the biggest change, but I have to say…big brother has really stepped up with advice for his sisters!
It’s funny how as the year progresses, the Light Units disappear! We are planning the closing of the year with much anticipation! The sunny days make school seem, well, DULL. The girls are enjoying bike rides, new kittens, and all the flowers!
This year I had to rethink my teaching. My number 2 daughter was really struggling with pre-algebra. So, being a somewhat creative mom, I came up with an IEP plan for homeschooling! I want her to succeed; so she and I set goals and discussed what she felt would help her with the transition into more difficult math. And it is working! Not every child will be an Einstein, but we as home educators have the ability to take what could be a DISABILITY and turn into a work of PROGRESS!
On another note, I found that both of my daughters really enjoy writing. They write short stories and essays with a flare!
And of course we had our “planning conference” for the next year. I really encourage the children’s input for curriculum. So we are ready to put down the moola for school year ’19-20!
It seems like if was just yesterday I taught my oldest to write his name, and *POOF* he is a full grown man -working and driving, being a productive citizen! So my pearl of wisdom is: enjoy these times…all of them. From getting b’s and d’s written in the right direction, to learning times tables, suffering through endless history lessons, and the tears and arguments…because…they go by way too fast!
So dear friends….as we close another year, may your pencils forever be sharpened with erasers, that rulers, compasses, and protractors never be lost, and that our wee ones always know, how much we truly love them!
Do you know how many great opportunities there are for homeschooling mamas to get educator training right here in Oklahoma? We’ve compiled a short list of some of the best (and most overlooked) ones for you to attend! {Feel free to drop us a line with others that you know, and we’ll get them added to this list….let’s collaborate!}
OERB offers FREE petroleum-based curriculum for teachers and homeschoolers across the state of Oklahoma. All levels of teaching are covered in their workshops, which are like a mini-retreat! The classes offer hands-on curriculum for each subject that focus on the petroleum industry. (ie, Core History teaches high school history from the viewpoint of Oklahoma’s oil & gas past) In addition to classroom training, you’ll receive a nice lunch, some snacks, a goody bag, and a day off from the kids!
Similar to OERB, these FREE courses are offered based around the agricultural industry. Each workshop covers all levels of teaching (whereas in OERB, you select your student’s level), so you’ll get information, curriculum, and goodies to use with all of your children together. Additionally, there are numerous free lesson plans available on their website for you to use!
Learn about our diverse natural areas and state parks through real-life and virtual field trips. You can download curriculum materials, and earn trading cards and certificates of completion.
There are several opportunities available here, including visiting with a geologist, the traveling library, hands-on geology kits, a resource room you can visit, touring the Sarkeys Energy Center, and the traveling fossil kit (which is very nice!).
Using water as a theme, Project WET provides hands-on activities to enhance the teaching of science, math, social studies, language arts, and many other required subjects. Project WET is primarily designed for teachers of grades K-12. This training costs $20, but that training comes with supplies and curriculum.
Oklahoma Project WILD provides educators with the tools, training and resources needed to engage students in active, hands-on learning about wildlife and the environment. The activity guides are available only by participating in interactive, hands-on, fun workshops.
While we haven’t personally attended this one, it is a one-day workshop for middle and high school teachers focusing on soybeans and doing science experiments with bio-fuel.
Focusing on forestry, biodiversity, and climate change, these workshops are offered online for educators. (This training is NOT free.) However, each month, free curriculum and student activities are posted on their site, and the activities change, so check back regularly!
